So it's time to begin the review of the music videos of the year, with the special relationship. Since it all began, the application of animation to music videos has been the source of magic. It happened again this year in all kinds of ways and styles.

Our favourite animated videos (or videos featuring substantial amounts of animation) range from the high-end CGI of Chemical Brothers, the iconoclastic experimentation of Superchunk and Aphex Twin (above), hand-drawn animation for Franc Moody, beautifully crafted stop motion for Jon Hopkins. And this list presents the talent of some of the finest auteur-animators out there.